Lock and release mechanism



O. G. OSWOLD LOCK AND RELEASE MECHANISM March 7, 1961 2,973,838

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 17, 1957 INVENTOR.

OLUFG. OSWOLD ATTORNEYS March 7, 1961 o. G. oswoLD 2,973,838

LOCK AND RELEASE MECHANISM Filed Dec. 17, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

OLUFGOSWOLD BY %.&QQLJZA/ ATTORNEYS LOCK AND RELEASE MECHANISM Oluf G. Oswold, Canadice, N.Y., assignor to Bausch 8:

Lamb Optical Company, Rochester, NY, a corporation of New York Filed Dec. 17, 1957, Ser. No. 703,416

4 Claims. (Cl. 188-822) This invention relates to improvements in a look and release mechanism for a lens grinding and polishing machine whereby a work or lens holder may be easily locked and maintained in a position with respect to a grinding lap and quickly released therefrom at any desired instant.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved lock mechanism for a work or lens holder which is positive in operation and self-sustaining in the lock position thereof.

Another object of the invention is to minimize the operational effort and attention required to position a work holder with respect to a Work tool for a working cycle or to disengage the same.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a lock and release mechanism for a lens grinding and polishing machine which is dependable in operation, rugged, and economical in construction and maintenance and yet being fabricated from simple parts.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation partly in section showing the lock and release mechanism of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the details of the lock and release mechanism;

Figs. 3 and 4 are front elevational views showing various operating structure in two positions of operation;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a portion of a lens grinding and polishing machine and the lock and release mechanism of the present invention arranged thereon; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 1 and showing a detail in one position of operation.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to Fig. 5, there is shown a portion 10 of a suitable lens grinding and polishing machine, which portion will be termed a base throughout the specification and which is adapted to support the essentials of the present invention. The base 10 supports, in the usual manner, a lens grinding and polishing couple comprising a lens holder 12 which has a lens 14 suitably attached thereto and a grinding lap 16 fixedly secured upon a mount 18 of the base 10. A breakup motion may be imparted to the lens holder 12 through a linkage comprising a pressure arm 20 which serves to transmit pressure to the lens holder through a pressure pin 21, and an actuating arm 22 to which a breakup motion mechanism (not shown) may be connected.

The lens 14 is yieldingly held against the surface of the grinding lap 16 by means of an upright pressure rod 24 and a coil spring 26 mounted in the rod. The rod 24 comprises two telescoping tubular sections 28, 3t) and the spring 26 is mounted within the sections between opposite ends thereof. The inner section 30 for the lower end thereof is provided with a tapered extension 32 which is adapted to releasably engage a seat 34 formed in the pressure arm 22. The upper end of the outer section 28 f atenfed Mar. 7, 1961 is provided with a hemispherical tip 36 which is seated in a socket 38 formed in an outwardly extending arm 40. The arm 40 may be secured to or formed integral with a supporting slide 4-2 mounted on a standard 44 which may be secured to or made integral with the base 10. A tie strap or cable 46 is secured at its ends to the pressure arm 22 and the arm 4%, respectively, in order that the spring 26 will not move the tubular sections 23, 30 of the rod 24- out of cooperative relation.

The slide 42 is a tubular member which is mounted for vertical reciprocative movement upon the standard 44. Within the tubular slide 42 there is rigidly secured a control member in the form of a depending connecting rod 48 which is slidably received within a bore 50 formed in the standard '44 in axial alignment with the axis of the tubular slide. The lower portion of the rod 48 is formed with rack teeth 52 on one side thereof and in meshing engagement with a gear 54 mounted in a brake housing 56 which in turn may be suitably secured upon the base ill.

As shown in Fig. 1, the gear 54 is keyed as by a key 58 to a shaft 69 which is rotatably supported by a face plate 62 of the housing 56. The other end of the shaft 60 is keyed as by a key 64 to a handle 66 and is axially secured with respect to the handle by a nut 68 which receives a threaded extension 70 of the shaft. It will be obvious that rotation is imparted to the gear 54 upon manual rotation of the handle 66 in either direction and, conversely, rotation of the gear $4 will impart rotation of the handle.

The face plate 62 is formed with a recess 72 on the side facing the handle 66 and is concentric with the axis of the shaft 60 and thegear S4. A circular annular shaped locking member 74 is retained within this recess and .is formed with a central aperture 76 for loosely receiving the shaft 69. As shown in Figs. 1,3 and 4, the diameter of the aperture 76 is somewhat larger than the diameter of the shaft, and the outer diameter of the locking member 74is smaller than the diameter of the'recess '72. In order to fully accommodate the member'74, the axial thickness of the member 74 is made slightly less than the depth of the recess 72. The member 74 is also provided with two diametrically opposed portions 7S, 8% which extend slightlyradially beyond the outer circular configuration thereof. The portion'78 is formed with an outer curved surface 31, portions of which are adapted to abut the cylindrical surface of the'recess 72-and a slot 82 for loosely receiving a pivot pin 84 having a diameter equal to the width of the slot and slightly less than tie length thereof and being secured to the lower section of the handle -66 for movement therewith. The portion 230 is formed with a semi-circular recess 86 for detachably holding a lock pin 88 diametrically opposed with respect to the slot $2 and having a length equal to or slightly less than the thickness of the locking member 74. it will be apparent that the longest dimension of the locking member 74 is along the diameter thereof which bisects the slot 32 and the lock pin 88. However, for purposes which will appear hereinafter, this dimension is slightly less than the diameter of the recess 72, thus allowing a first turning movement of the member 74 within the recess when the member is turned about an axis in alignment with the axis of the shaft till and a second turning movement when the mechanism is rocked about the pivot pin 84. i

A locking lever 90 is interposed between the 'handle '66 and the face plate 62 of the housing 56 and is formed with an aperture 92 for receiving the shaft 69 and an opening 94 for rotatably receiving the pivot" pin 84, see Fig. 1.. The level-90 is sufficiently wide to bridge across the recess 72 and is limited in its axial movement with respect to the shaft 60 by the adjacent surfaces 96, 98 of the face plate 62 and the handle, respectively. The

aperture 92 is relatively large compared to the diameter of the shaft 60 and is adapted to have extended therethrough a pair of actuating pins 100, 102 which are secured'to the member 74. The pins 100, 102 have their axes parallel to the axis of the shaft 60 and are spaced at equal distances from the respective adjacent edges of the aperture 76 in diametrically opposed positions. As shown in Fig. 6, where the opening 92 of the locking lever 90 is shown superimposed upon the locking member 74, the distance between the outer surfaces of the actuating pins 100, 102 is slightly smaller than the diameter of the opening 92, and as will be described hereinafter, the pins 100, 102 are alternately adapted to engage the edges of the opening 92 for each cycle of operation. In Fig. 6, the pin 102 is shown in contact with the adjacent edge of this opening for one position of operation of the locking mechanism.

In operation, movement of the handle 66 will rotate the shaft 60 and the gear 54 as long as the locking lever 90 and the handle 66 are moved in unison and in the same direction that the lever is displaced with respect to the handle. In this manner, the gear 54 may be rotated in either direction to effect raising or lowering of the pressure arm as the case may be. This will be apparent since the distance between the outer contacting surface of the locking pin 88 and the outer surface 81 of the portion 78 is smaller than the diameter of the recess 72 and, consequently, rotation of the shaft 60 and the handle 66 about the axis of the shaft will simply impart the first turning movement to the locking member 74 which will be driven by the pin 84 as the handle is turned. This turning movement will be about the axis of the shaft 60 since the diameter of the aperture 76 in the member 74 is larger than the diameter of the shaft 60, and, as will be described hereinafter, the member 74 is held against the cylindrical surface of the recess during its movement in order to effect raising and lowering of the pressure arm.

In order to lock the handle from rotary motion and consequently to arrest rotation of the gear 54, the locking lever is moved with respect to the handle in a direction depending upon the direction against which rotary movement of the gear 54 is to be arrested. If it is desired to lock the handle 66 against counterclockwise rotation, as shown in Fig. 3, the locking lever 90 is turned clockwise to the position as shown in that figure, the latter turning being about the pivot pin 84. While the lever is in this position, the handle 66 may be rotated clockwise but is prevented from rotating counterclockwise. In practice, the lever is turned clockwise or to the position shown in Fig. 3, followed by rotation of the handle in a clockwise direction in order to effect raising of the pressure arm 20. The handle will then remain where it is released and is locked against counterclockwise rotation or in that direction which will lower the lens holder. In order to effect pressure upon the lens holder and the grinding lap, the handle 66 is rotated in a counterclockwise manner which will lower the holder against the bias of the spring 26, the lever 90 having been turned to the position shown in Fig. 4, the shaft 60 is locked against clockwise rotation faciiltated by the bias of the spring 26.

This turning of the lever in a clockwise direction may be considered as a two-stage operation, the initial stage of which will cause the adjacent edge of the aperture 92, formed in the lever, to contact the actuating pin 102 and move it therewith during the remaining stage of turning of the lever. During this second stage of operation, a second turning movement is imparted to the locking member 74 and this will be around the pivot pin 84 causingv the wedging of the lock pin 88 against the adjacent portion of the cylindrical surface of the recess 72. Since the length of the slot 82 is slightly larger than the diameter of the pin 84, the latter will slide along the edges of the slot so that the portion 78 of the member 74 will move slightly to the left, as seen in Figs. 3 and 6, to cause one end 104 of the, surface 81 to abut the adjacent portion of the cylindrical surface of the recess 72, see Fig. 6. During full movement of the member 74 between the positions shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the slot 82 will move downwardly to cause the stationary pin 84 to ride along the edges of the slot from the initial starting position of the slot as shown in Fig. 6, to a position where the pin is near the upper end of the slot when the member is in centered position and down along the edges of the slot to a position similar to that shown in Fig. 6. This movement will be a turning movement about an axis located on the longitudinal axis of the slot and which has an are subscribed by the midpoint of the slot during its full travel.

Pressure exerted upon the actuating pin 102 toward the right will, in effect, bring about a camming action as the lock pin 88 and the end 104 will be continually forced into a camming surface as defined by the curved surface of the recess 72, which camming action will then tend to compress the member 74 between the contacting points of the lock pin 88 and the end 104. With the parts in these positions, turning of the locking member 74 is arrested. To further illustrate this camming compression action, it will be noted in Fig. 6 that the end 104 and the lock pin 88 are located on the same side of the vertical axis X of the face plate 62. Any attempt to rotate the handle 66 counterclockwise, as viewed in Fig. 3, will tend to drive the pivot pin 84 in the direction of the arrow A, as seen in Fig. 6, and thus force the end 104 into tighter engagement with the surface of the recess while at the same time forcing the lock pin 88 against another portion of the surface by the pressure exerted by the actuating pin 102, whereby a camming or wedging action is performed upon the pin 88 and the end 104 as these are forced into the smaller confines of the curved surfaces of the recess. v

In the event that rotation of the gear 54 and the ban die 66 against clockwise rotation is desired, the lever is turned about the pivot 84 in a counterclockwise direction to a position as shown in Fig. 4. The locking is accomplished in exactly the same way as previously described for counterclockwise locking except that the movement of the parts is reversed. The lever 90 is initially turned counterclockwise followed by countercloclo wise rotation of the handle in order to impart pressure upon the lens holder 12 and the lens 14 for grinding engagement with the lap 16. While the handle may be rotated counterclockwise to effect lowering of the holder 12, clockwise rotation is prevented and thus the holder 12 is held in a fixed relationship with respect to the grinding lap 16. This operation will be apparent and it is believed further description thereof will not be neccssary.

In order to insure the angular relationship between the longitudinal axes of the handle 66 and the locking lever 90, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, there is provided a leaf spring 106 held in bias condition between an anchor 103 secured to one end of an oval slot 110 formed in the handle and an anchor 112 secured to the lever and extending into the slot 110 adjacent the other end thereof. The spring 106 will continually force the lever into either of the positions shown in Figs. 3 and 4, depending upon which of the directions an operator has moved the same. Since the spring 106 is continually in compression, the lever 90 will be turned to either position with a snap action once the axis thereof has been moved over the center or a small amount beyond the axis of the handle. Any attempt to rotate the handle 66 in a direction opposite to that of the lever will be prevented, and the shaft 60 and the gear 54 are locked against rotation in that direction. The spring 106, by maintaining the angular relationship between the lever and the handle, also maintains the engagement of the locking member with the surface of the recess at the points of contact by the pin 88 and the corner 104 during turning of the member 74 about the axis of the shaft 60.

To release the handle from the locked position shown' in Fig. 3, the lever 90 is turned counterclockwise to its position as shown in Fig. 4. This movement will cause the adjacent edge of the aperture 92 to abut the actuating pin 100 and move the same and consequently the actuating member 74 to the left as shown in Fig. 4, thereby releasing the camming effect of the lock pin 38 and the corner 1% upon the adjacent surface of the recess 72. While this operation will release the handle from its locked position, as shown in Fig. 3, the same operation will cause locking of the handle to the position shown in Fig. 4, since the camming effect will take effect as soon as the lever 90 is snapped to the position shown in that figure. The spring 106 will insure that self-sustaining locking action is present for either position of the lever thus serving to positively lock the handle against rotation in one direction, as the case may be.

From the foregoing description, it will be appreciated that the present invention provides an improved lock mechanism for the lens holder of a lens grinding and polishing machine. The lock mechanism is composed of simple parts requiring a minimum of closely machined tolerances, yet is rugged, self-sustaining and positive in its locking ability.

While there is in this application specifically described one form which the invention may assume in practice, it will be understood that this form is shown for purposes of illustration, and that the same may be modified and embodied in various other forms or employed in other uses without departing from the spirit of the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A locking mechanism for selectively locking a shaft against rotation in either direction, said mechanism comprising a handle member secured to the shaft for imparting rotation thereto, a casing having an internal surface and having said shaft extending therethrough, a locking member positioned within the casing, means carried by the locking member and acting between the locking member and the casing to selectively hold the shaft against rotation with respect to the casing in either of two directions, said locking member being movably mounted on the handle member to turn about an axis which is parallel to the axis of the shaft, and a locking lever mounted on the handle member to turn about the first-named axis and connected to rotate with the locking member for selectively moving the locking member into locking engagement with said surface, the movement of the locking lever in one direction preventing movement of the handle memher and shaft in the opposite direction but permitting movement of said handle member and shaft in said one direction, and means acting between the locking lever and said handle to retain the locking lever in the engaged position with said locking member engaged with said surface.

2. A locking mechanism for selectively locking a shaft against rotation in two directions, said mechanism comprising a handle member secured to the shaft for rotating the shaft in both directions, a casing having an internal recess provided with a cylindrical surface which is coaxial with the shaft, a locking member mounted within said casing recess and having a central aperture whose diameter is larger than that of the shaft which extends therethrough, means carried by the locking member and acting between the locking member and the casing to selectively hold the shaft against rotation with respect to the casing in either of two directions, a pin secured to the handle member and extending parallel to the shaft and through an opening in the locking member whereby the latter is mounted to turn on the pin, a locking lever connected to rotate with said locking member and mounted to turn on said pin for selectively moving the locking member into locking engagement with the cylindrical surface, and means acting between the locking lever and said handle to retain the locking lever in the engaged position with said locking member engaged with said surface.

3. A locking mechanism for selectively locking a shaft against rotation in two directions, said mechanism comprising a handle member secured to the shaft for rotating the shaft in both directions, a casing having an internal recess provided with a cylindrical surface which is coaxial with the shaft, a locking member mounted within said casing recess and having a central aperture whose diameter is larger than that of the shaft which extends therethrough, a pin secured to the handle member and extending parallel to the shaft and through an opening in the locking member whereby the latter is mounted to turn on the pin, said locking member having oppositely positioned radial extensions engageable with said cylindrical surface when said member is turned about the pin, and a locking lever connected to rotate with said locking member and mounted to turn on said pin for selectively moving said extensions of the locking member into locking engagement with the cylindrical surface, and means acting between the locking lever and said handle to retain the locking lever in the engaged position with said locking member radial extensions engaged with said cylindrical surface.

4. A locking mechanism for selectively locking a shaft.

against rotation in either direction, said mechanism comprising a handle member secured to the shaft for imparting rotation thereto, a casing having an internal cylindrical surface which is coaxial with the shaft, an annular locking member within the casing, said locking member having a central aperture whose diameter is larger than that of the shaft which extends therethrough, a pin secured to the handle member and extending parallel to the axis of the shaft, said locking member having oppositely positioned radial extensions, said locking member having an opening adjacent one of the extensions for receiving said pin whereby said locking member may turn about the pin, a locking lever positioned between the casing and handle member and having a central aperture whose diameter is larger than that of the shaft which extends therethrough, said locking lever having an opening for receiving said pin whereby the locking lever is mounted to turn on said pin, a pair of spaced pins secured to the locking member and extending through the central aperture in the locking lever whereby turning of the latter will engage the Wall of the central aperture of the locking lever with either one of said pair of spaced pins to move the extensions in locking engagement with said cylindrical surface, and means acting between the looking lever and said handle to retain the locking lever in the engaged position.

References (Iited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 279,304 Wythe June 12, 1883 757,381 Wright Apr. 12, 1904 2,033,362 Thomas et al Mar. 10, 1936 2,051,783 Dake Aug. 18, 1936 2,258,950 Curtis Oct. 14, 1941 

